


three times

by sureimiku



Category: Tales of the Abyss
Genre: Angst, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Nightmares, Writing this made me emo, nightmare about dying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-29
Updated: 2019-06-29
Packaged: 2020-05-29 16:05:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19403734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sureimiku/pseuds/sureimiku
Summary: Three times Natalia comforted Asch at night.





	three times

The first time was when they were both children. It was well past midnight when Natalia felt something jolt up from the bed. “What’s wrong?” She asked, tiredly rubbing her eyes. 

“Another nightmare.” Luke replied, placing his hand on his forehead.

“What was it about?” 

“Bees,” he began. “I was by the garden with mother and suddenly a swarm came racing towards us. They were chasing me down and their buzzing was so loud…Hey, what are you laughing at?” 

The princess stifled her laughter so she wouldn’t wake up anyone. “Sorry, it’s just...I wouldn’t expect you to dream about something like that.” She recalled a few weeks ago that Luke got stung on his finger. He was planting a flower when he felt something sharp in his finger. His scream was loud enough for everyone in the manor to hear, and even worse it was on his dominant hand. 

“It's not funny, Natalia! Their stings hurt an awful lot, you know! The last thing I want is to have my face covered with bumps.”

“They won’t sting unless you angrily swat at them, though. Just leave them alone. ”

He angrily slipped back under the sheets and tried to go back to sleep, which turned out to be unsuccessful. He tossed and turned a few times, with thoughts racing through his head. All that was on his mind were those damned bees. _They’d surely come for him in the morning,_ he thought, _they’d surely sting him all over and Natalia would—_

“Hey, Luke? I’m sorry. It’ll be okay. Their purpose isn’t to just sting you all over. They’re there to help our garden bloom into something beautiful.” Her voice was gentle and put the young boy at ease. “And besides, I know you’re brave.” 

“Thanks...Natalia.” With the moonlight softly pouring into the room and those few words spoken by the princess, he found himself drifting off to sleep. 

* * *

The second time was the night before the Absorption Gate. Luke now went under the name Asch, and several years later he was still having nightmares. But this time there was no one there to comfort him. It was hard getting through nights sometimes, knowing no one would be there to tell him it’s okay. 

Or so he thought, as he heard a soft knock at his door. 

“Can I… Come in?” A familiar voice asked. 

It took him a few seconds to answer, but he allowed her into his room. 

“I heard you were staying at the same inn as us...I just wanted to stop by and see how you were doing.” 

Asch remained silent for a bit, unsure of what to tell her. He pushed her away after she tried to heal his wound, and he felt that he should apologize for it. “I’ve been fine. I could ask the same of you.” 

Natalia sighed. “I’ve been on edge with all that’s happened recently. With half the god-generals gone and Van being our next target, I just don’t know how to feel.” She peered out the window as she waited for his response. Keterburg was beautiful at night- with the snow falling through the dimly lit town, it was unfortunate she’d have to depart in the morning. 

“You should get some rest, then. Van’s not going to be easy to beat.”

“Yeah, but it seems like you can’t sleep as well.” 

She was right about that. In fact, it’d been hard for him to get some decent sleep lately. His wound from Van made his side ache and headaches on top of that made it worse. He considered getting it treated properly, but pushed it aside as it’d be a waste of time. 

“Once Van goes down tomorrow everything should be fine. But part of me is still stressed. What if the dreck doesn’t succeed?” 

“I’m sure he will; he has us. We’ll take Van down and make things right.” 

“You make it sound so easy…” 

Natalia stepped towards him and clasped his hand. “I promise we’ll take him down. And once this is all over we can be together again, I know it. So please...have some faith in us.” She tightened her grip with those last few words and looked into his eyes. She knew he longed to be with her again; she could see the loneliness in his eyes. She hated not being able to see him often and whenever she did he was usually yelling at his replica. 

Asch whispered a soft “okay” before he laid back down on his bed. It had been so long since someone comforted him to sleep, but he knew it wouldn’t last for long. 

* * *

The third time was the night before Rem. Asch was _scared._ It didn’t get better when all he could dream about was his upcoming death. 

_“Asch, stop! Don’t do this!”_

_“I don’t have a choice!” He drew his sword and drove it into the ground. He was going to be the one to die with the thousands of replicas. He was destined to die anyway, with his body starting to weaken overtime. Hell, he wasn’t even a replica himself, but he decided it was best if he was the one to go. The replicas and himself began to emit a glow as they started to vanish. It was finally happening. His entire body was trembling and his breaths started getting shaky. “No...I have to hang in there...”_

_“Asch!”_

_He turned to see Natalia standing there, tears rolling down her cheeks as she was held back by Jade. “You can’t...you can't go! What happened to our promise? I can’t fulfill it without you...you’re the only person I can do it alongside. So please…” Her tears came down harder but at that point Asch’s sense of hearing diminished. His breathing was heavier than before and he fell to the ground. Replicas started disappearing one by one, until finally the only person left was him. Suddenly he felt someone grab onto him and tried to yank the sword out of his hand._

_“Natalia, step back! You’ll disappear with him!”_

_“I just can’t lose him!”_

_“Natalia, no, no…” He had no power left to push her away. Asch froze as he saw the tears pooling in her eyes. She started to slowly disappear with him and there was nothing he could do except watch his beloved die with him._

_No, this couldn’t be happening._

_“I’m sorry…”_

* * *

Asch jolted awake in a cold sweat and with his heart practically jumping out his chest. His body was shaking just like it did in his nightmare. In fact, that was probably the worst nightmare he’d had in years—he wasn’t even in his usual sleeping position. His head was rested on someone else’s, though he couldn’t register who it was because it was completely dark. 

“I’m right here. _It’ll be okay_.” 

He recognized their gentle voice, how they comforted him with the same words years ago. “N-Natalia…?”

“Yes, it’s me… You were having a horrible nightmare and called my name out in your sleep. But it’s okay now.” Those last few words seemed to make things worse; seconds later she heard a quiet sob coming from the man laying on her. “Asch?” 

The last thing she expected was his arms wrapping around her and his sobs buried in her shoulders. He didn’t speak, but Natalia already knew the words buried behind his sobs— _I don’t want to die._ Earlier that day he was full of anger from his replica telling him not to die, but right now he was the complete opposite. 

It’d probably been years since he last cried or showed such sadness to someone. Under his title as god-general he had to appear and act strong in order to succeed. Natalia never even considered how many deaths he had to witness— soldiers, innocent villagers— and on top of that he was _seventeen._ Instead of calling his name again, she simply started stroking his hair until his crying quieted down. 

“I dreamt that I died at Rem,” he paused, “but you died with me.”

“Oh…”

Natalia’s eyes looked like they were going to tear up as well, but she held them back. She didn’t want to make this any harder for Asch. She pulled him away gently from her chest and locked her eyes with his. His eyes that once shone with emerald were now clouded by redness. His hair was messed up from thrashing around in his sleep and his cheeks were stained with tears. It hurt to see Asch like this, it really did. 

“I won’t die. I don’t want you to die either. There are so many people that want you to stay alive— Susanne, Luke, Noelle, Ginji, and most importantly the person in front of you right now.” Natalia paused and gave him a hug. “I just wish things didn’t have to come to this...”

The man hummed in agreement, although the thought of Rem still made him shiver. It truly was unfortunate, but he accepted that his replica had much more potential than he did. Asch knew there were more people that wanted Luke to stay, he knew it wouldn’t do any good for him to die when his original was in the process of it already. 

He pushed away his thoughts about dying and leaned back into Natalia, closing his eyes and listening to her heartbeat. Asch wished he had more time— time to tell Natalia all that’s happened in the past few years, how bad he missed her, how lonely he felt. But his time was nearly out, so he asked her for one final thing. “Could we...Is it possible for you to stay for the rest of the night?” 

She nodded, leaning back so her feet weren’t touching the floor. Right now was the closest she’d been to Asch since they were children. Natalia ran her fingers through his locks once more, watching the man’s eyes slowly close. When he was fully asleep, she leaned in to give him a kiss on top of his forehead. 

Tonight would remain a secret to only the two of them, she decided. She held him the rest of the night, being sure to rid him of his nightmares. 

And it was the last time she ever held him. 

**Author's Note:**

> first time writing angst in a long time I...hope it was angsty enough  
> thank you for reading!


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